'Nothing has changed after 13 years'

Ceremony on anniversary of withdrawal from Gush Katif forced to move because of threat of rocket attack. 'They promised peace if we left.'

Benny Toker, 19/07/18 22:14

Kissufim ceremony (archive)

Eliran Aharon

Hundreds of guests, including many of those who were expelled during the Disengagement, arrived Thursday at the Kissufim junction to participate in a ceremony marking the 13th anniversary of the expulsion from Gush Katif. The were asked to evacuate the area out of concern terrorists from the Gaza Strip would fire rockets at the area.

The ceremony was therefore moved to the Gush Katif Heritage Center in Nitzan.

Anat Yaakov, a former resident of Gush Katifwho arrived for the ceremony in Kissufim with her grandsonr, told Arutz Sheva: "We came here today for a Bar Mitzvah ceremony for those children who were born in 2005 in Gush Katif and some of them were born outside Gush Katif, and we wanted to explain to them why we left our home in Gush Katif."

"It was supposed to begin now, and the army and the police informed us that we had to vacate the place because of the fear of firing mortar shells," said Yaakov.

Yaakov, a resident of Be'er Ganim, added: "For 13 years, nothing has changed. We left our homes because they told us that peace would come, and not only did peace not come, we are approaching war again. I arrived here with my grandson, and I leave in disgrace."